Myanmar’s lawyers continue to respond in Gambia-Myanmar case

THE oral hearings in The Gam­bia-Myanmar case are taking place from 12 to 29 January at the International Court of Jus­tice in The Hague, the Neth­erlands. Myanmar delivered its first oral arguments on 19 January, from 10 am to 6 pm local time, with its counsel, Mr Sam-Bloom Cooper, and lead counsel Mr Christopher Staker, presenting the case.

The Gambia has accused the Tatmadaw of carrying out a pattern of conduct in every Ben­gali village in northern Rakhine State, claiming it was a coun­terterrorism operation aimed at ethnically cleansing the Bengali population, a charge that Myanmar’s counsel, Ms Leigh Lawrie, countered by citing incidents from 42 villag­es. Myanmar’s lead counsel Mr Christopher Staker argued that The Gambia’s accusations – that Myanmar’s laws and pol­icies were intended to commit genocide and to discriminate against the Rohingya – were unfounded. (The counterargu­ments of Myanmar’s counsel Ms Leigh Lawrie, and its lead counsel Mr Christopher Staker, are excerpted separately.) — MNA/TH